Data protection as a competitive advantage? How European startups compete globally
Next Visions Podcast with Jörg Rheinboldt and Mahdi Manesh
Less money, more regulation: As a location for young companies, Europe often lags behind the USA or China. However, Jörg Rheinboldt, Managing Director of early-stage investor APX, and Mahdi Manesh, Head of Software Engineering & Deep Tech at Porsche Digital, talk about why EU data protection could develop into a real competitive advantage in Porsche’s Next Visions podcast.
It is rare for Europe to be seen as having an advantage over the USA or China when it comes to startups. After all, these two countries have produced the most unicorn enterprises in recent years and therefore dominate the startup market. The main reason for their strength is easier access to capital. Europe is far behind in this respect and currently cannot keep up with the enormous financing volume of the USA and China.
When it comes to data protection, Europe is leading the way with its European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). What is generally seen as a disadvantage in day-to-day business could now even turn out to be a significant competitive advantage. This is the opinion of Jörg Rheinboldt, Managing Director of APX, one of the leading early-stage VCs based in Berlin:
“It is important that you can trust the companies and know what they do with the data.”
The supposed drawback could become a great advantage
In the latest episode of the Next Visions podcast, host Melanie Hähnel explores with Jörg Rheinboldt, Managing Director of early-stage investor APX, and Mahdi Manesh, Head of Software Engineering & Deep Tech at Porsche Digital, among other things, the opportunities of European AI startups and the challenges artificial intelligence is facing in general.
Unlike in the USA or China, data protection in Europe is regulated generally and comprehensively. Especially for digital start-ups with a software-based business model, it might turn out as an advantage to be able to prove that their solution meets all the requirements for GDPR-compliant handling of personal data.
“Building companies in the context of data protection and data autonomy is only possible here, and we want to take advantage of that”, says Jörg Rheinboldt. The topic of data protection could be a unique selling point compared to competitors from other nations, according to the former eBay Germany Managing Director.
Is data protection slowing down the development of artificial intelligence?
The restrictive handling of data can, however, also pose major challenges for AI startups in particular. Especially when it comes to still develop the same quality of artificial intelligence with anonymized data. “I see it as the task of engineers to come up with a solution here — for society and the sustainability of companies,” says Mahdi Manesh. In the future, we as a society will have to ask ourselves what we want to allow with our data and what we don’t, he says.
Another challenge that is probably familiar to all startups worldwide is the right composition of the team. Both agree that mixed teams of engineers, designers and someone who takes care of business development are one of the decisive factors for success. And if Jörg Rheinboldt has his way, a successful start-up only needs one thing: a good idea. Finding it sounds quite simple to him, who as a business angel is in regular contact with many founders: “You just have to make what people want and then give it to them. In a scaled way.”
If you want to learn more about the challenges of setting up a business and exciting commercial models, you can listen to both parts of the episode. The Next Visions podcast can be listened to and subscribed to on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcast.
